Aqueous basic solutions of phenolic resins are known in the art. They are used in making foundry mixes which are made into foundry shapes. The shapes are cured with esters by a no-bake or cold-box process depending upon whether a volatile ester is used for curing.
Although these processes have advantages from an environmental standpoint, they also have limitations. One of the primary limitations is that the tensile strengths are lower than for some of the other no-bake and cold-box processes used for preparing workable foundry shapes. Furthermore, the stability of these aqueous basic solutions of phenolic resole resins is primarily dependent upon using large quantities of base, particularly potassium hydroxide.